Monday, May 2, 2011

Red Sky Festival headliner: 311



Well, we know one band now. Omaha-bred 311 will play the main stage on the fest's first day and they'll bring along their summer tour opener: Sublime with Rome.

It's sort of underwhelming, to be honest. For me, that's because I knew the band would play Red Sky the moment they released a tour schedule a month ago (there was a mysterious TBA date on their schedule during Red Sky).

Don't get me wrong, I like 311. They were the first band I really connected with and for years I would name them as my favorite band. They're a fun live act and they have a new album coming this summer, but I think a lot of folks were expecting a much bigger splash.

In fact, the response on the fest's Facebook page was extremely negative when I checked it this morning. People want more of the lineup. They want to see bands they want to see.

According to a press release, you'll hear the next headliner on May 9. That's next Monday for anyone without a calendar.

It makes me wonder if we'll have to wait six whole weeks before we know the headliners.

I get that they want to drag this thing out and get as much press as they can. But since they originally told me (and I told the world) they were going to have these bands in February, people have already waited long enough.

You have the lineup in your hands, MECA. Just give it to people already. It will help your cause. I promise.

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311's Twitter says the band will offer pre-sales for the Red Sky date at 311.com/shows starting tomorrow.

* * *

According to the latest news release, the Battle of the Local Bands will include 24 bands.

They say that more than 75 bands have shown interest, though I assume that's every band that's contacted MECA since this thing was revealed in December.

8 comments:

  1. And thank you. This is beyond ridiculous. Not only is the first announcement a huge letdown, since everyone in Omaha has seen this band live already, but then I find out it costs extra to see the main stage. What the what? Hey, Red Sky, take a few pointers from the Kanrocksas music festival to see how it's done right.

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  2. Welcome to America 2.0 where everyone has an opinion about everything before allowing the other person to finish their thought, read the whole story or wait until the final product is on the market. And most times the opinion is negative - this sucks, why can't we be more like, etc. For all the 311 fans in Omaha I am sure they are excited to see them and enjoy the day.

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  3. John, I'm excited to see 311 as are many fans. I am just underwhelmed by their first big announcement as are most other people, apparently.

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  4. The rumor I read said that the other "big" names are Kid Rock, Journey, and Sheryl Crow that was followed by the already confirmed 311 and not so solidly confirmed but completely unknown to me, Jason Aldean. I was once excited about the prospect of this festival, but if this is any indication of what we should expect then I will just about guarantee that I won't be attending.

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  5. Journey and Kid Rock are ones I heard, too. Sheryl Crow is playing the Orpheum next week, so she's almost assuredly out. But Jason Aldean has an Omaha date in the middle of Red Sky with "TBA" listed as a venue, so he'll definitely be there.

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  6. I realize that MECA has done a fine job of hyping this thing and we should expect it to not come close to anyone's expecations. To be honest if the final bill is garbage I will be at home enjoying the new Beastie Boy album.

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  7. This is just not good. Not good at all. I had such high hopes for this festival. I set aside money to be able to purchase an "festival pass" because I assumed it would be a decent chunk of change for six headliners, B stage and C stage. I was ready to GO! But this? This is just silly. Silly organization. Silly choices. Silly structure.

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